Because the One Ring, Gollum, and Gandalf have been inseparably hogtied to theLord of the RingsIP as pieces of iconography, it’s terrific to seeTales of the Shirecommit to its hobbit-holes and seemingly refuse to permeate the cozy life sim with anything that would otherwise be there solely for the sake of nostalgia or familiarity. Not every game can say that of the looming franchise IP it belongs to, though, and that’s certainly true of theSilent Hillgames that had to somehow follow Team Silent’s astonishing psychological horror titles.
Silent Hillhas a perpetually endearing and alluring premise and, with countless protagonists, characters, and settings it could feature, there is no reason why its creativity or imagination should ever be stifled. LikeSilent Hill 2, no story or character needs to explicitly connect to another to have the lore remain intact, and as an anthology there should never be any excuse for iconography to be repeated if it isn’t necessary. Pyramid Head manifested with a specific tether to James Sunderland, for example, and upcomingSilent Hillgames likeforTownfallneed to abandon the trope wholeheartedly.
Silent Hill 2’s Pyramid Head is a phenomenal antagonist and expression of James Sunderland’s guilt. But, in the years following Pyramid Head’s debut and the influence he’d have on the franchise, the notion of a threatening figure that looms as a dark reflection of a protagonist has since been diminished and bastardized:
Silent Hill: Homecoming’s Pyramid Headisn’t necessarily a reflection of Alex Shepherd as much as he’s simply an aimless executioner/bogeyman, though regardless of whatever in-game explanation is alluded to this example is the most obvious demonstration of the trope being regurgitated and exploited as a means of reproducing iconic imagery.Origins’ Butcher andDownpour’s Bogeyman aren’t awful depictions of what they’re attempting to represent, but because they’re designed to be similar to Pyramid Head they lack the originality that basically any other monster or boss design has in theSilent Hillseries.
Many of theWesternSilent Hillgamesare incredibly unsubtle and lack the storytelling nuance thatSilent Hill 2alone had, making it even worse thatOrigins,Homecoming, andDownpourall have a thematically identical and mute antagonist figure meant to represent or reflect the protagonist in one way or another.Silent Hill: Shattered Memoriespresents its story through a unique perspective that makes for a startling conclusion, but it too relies on an established story and characters.
The simple answer as to why the executioner/bogeyman trend continues is because Pyramid Head is iconic inSilent Hill 2and it makes for easy fan service to replicate that—literally and unapologetically inHomecoming, no less.
Future Silent Hill Games Should Be Held to a Creative Standard
IffandTownfallare going to be respected as brand-new entries, they will hopefully not cling to superficial imagery. Now,Silent Hillimagery will be impossible to circumvent completely if fog or the town itself is featured but to have a character or enemy appear without anything to justify them being there would be a huge mistake.
Part of the fun ofSilent Hill’s loreis knowing or at least believing that some enemies are only meant for one protagonist to experience, which then allows that protagonist’s experience in Silent Hill novel and unlike anyone else’s.
Homecomingwould’ve still leaned too much on the 2006 movie’s imagery even if it hadn’t featured Pyramid Head, but the cursed town of Shepherd’s Glen and the lore behind its four founding families are interesting. There was no need forHomecomingto triple down on extraneous iconography and its reputation suffers to this day for it.
Rather,Silent Hill: The Short Messagewent in the opposite direction and bears almost no similarity at all toSilent Hill. This might’ve been agreeable if the game itself was not a free, two-hour walking simulator more akin to an early Bloober game, and it is hopefully more along the lines of what futureSilent Hillgames will consider in their approach to crafting lore and imagery. That said, players shouldn’t hold their breath becauseSilent Hill 2’s remake was released recently and the pattern will probably renew itself with even more inspiration drawn from Pyramid Head for bogeyman figures in futureSilent Hillgames.
